Alaska

Democratic Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska had perhaps the most appropriate reaction to the " news " that Sarah Palin may seek to run against him in 2014: Win a primary, then you'll get my attention. He continued: "I take every candidate seriously -- that is, if she's still a resident, but you know she quit on Alaska when she was governor. She's been somewhat vacant from the state and quit on the state, so I wish her the best on her potential run. " Begich was responding to an interview Palin gave to (who else?

Get ready to spend a little more on baggage fees when you fly Alaska Airlines. The Seattle carrier will increase the cost of checking your first two bags to $25 each from $20 each, for tickets bought on or after Oct. 30. The fee for your third bag rises to $75 from $20, with the fourth bag rising to $75 from $50. Quiz: What can't you take onboard a jetliner? The increases bring Alaska in line with the fees charged by some of its bigger airline competitors. Bag fees generate huge revenue for airlines, with the nation's 16 largest carriers collecting $3.5 billion in bag fees in 2012, up from $464 million for 22 airlines in 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics . But Alaska will continue to offer its guarantee that if your bag does not arrive at the baggage claim area within 20 minutes of your flight parking at the gate, the airline will give you a $20 discount toward your next flight or 2,000 miles toward the airline's loyalty reward program.

The coincidence was tragic: It was the second Alaska plane crash that killed somebody from Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville, S.C., in little more than a week. A De Havilland DHC-3 Otter air taxi crashed on takeoff Sunday from an airport in Soldotna, Alaska, on its way to Bear Mountain Lodge on Chinitna Bay about 75 miles away. Aboard were two families from the church, parents with their kids, acquaintances and a church official said: Melet, Kim, Olivia, Mills and Ana Antonakos; and Chris, Stacey, Meghan and Connor McManus.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive Monday at a small Alaska airport where an air taxi crash killed all 10 people aboard. As firefighters arrived at the runway crash Sunday morning, the De Havilland DHC-3 Otter was engulfed in flames at the Soldotna airport, about 75 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula. “We have a team headed to Alaska and we're going to do an on-scene investigation,” Terry Williams, an NTSB spokesman in Washington, told the Los Angeles Times.

Six hundred residents were briefly evacuated after a central Alaska wildfire near Fairbanks more than doubled in size over the weekend, officials said Monday. The Stuart Creek fire, which was sparked on a Army weapons range, has devoured more than 79,000 acres of land and cost $5.5 million to fight so far, according to the latest official tallies. Officials warned nearby residents that smoke could descend over their towns and cause health problems. Bernie Pineda, spokesman for the Alaska Fire Service out of Ft. Wainwright, an Army base, said the fire was apparently sparked June 19 by an "explosive munition.

The nine unidentified passengers killed in a small plane crash in southern Alaska on Sunday were believed to be from South Carolina, police said Monday. The De Havilland DHC-3 Otter air taxi, which crashed near Soldotna, was on its way to the Bear Mountain Lodge on Chinitna Bay about 75 miles away, the lodge's co-owner, Mac McGahan, told the Los Angeles Times. McGahan declined further comment and referred questions to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is handling the investigation into the accident.

A fast-growing wildfire near Fairbanks, Alaska, prompted hundreds of people and sled dogs to flee Sunday afternoon. Officials ordered evacuations for a 16-mile stretch of Chena Hot Springs Road in Two Rivers and Pleasant Valley, two suburbs of Fairbanks. About 430 structures were threatened, including an Air Force base. The area is home to a number of Iditarod dog mushers, some of whom keep more than 100 sled dogs, said Michelle Weston, spokeswoman for the California Type 1 incident management team that is responding to the blaze.

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of July 7 - 13, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies SERIES Dancing Fools This dance competition hosted by Melissa Peterman ends its freshman season with back-to-back episodes. 6 and 6:30 p.m. ABC Family King Amy Price-Francis plays the titular Toronto cop in this imported-from-Canada police procedural. 7 and 9 p.m. Reelz Warlocks Rising This new docu-series follows a notorious outlaw biker club in Florida.

July 3, 2013 | By Deborah Netburn, This post has been updated, as indicated below.

Ten miles off the coast of southern Alaska, an insurance adjuster from Seattle caught a neon orange rockfish that is probably more than 100 years old. The fish, a type of rockfish called a shortraker, was caught in 900 feet of water, weighed in at 39.08 pounds and is just under 41 inches long. It is the largest rockfish to have been caught by a recreational fisherman in this part of the world and it might be the oldest as well. [Updated, 10:53 a.m. July 3: For those wondering why the fisherman Henry Liebman did not throw the ancient fish back into the sea immediately after catching it, the answer is that the fish was almost certainly dead by the time he reeled it in. "When a rockfish caught in 900 feet of water is brought to the surface it usually dies," said Julie Speegle, a spokeswoman for NOAA's Alaska region, in an interview with the L.A. Times.

ALASKA Slide show Artist Roderick Smith will give a slide presentation of his trip by ferry through the Inside Passage to Fox Island in Resurrection Bay. Smith, who painted and wrote along the way, will describe the inner journey of an artist in pursuit of finding creative solace in the Alaskan wilderness. When, where: 7:30 p.m. Monday at Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (626) 449-3220. HIKING Workshop Experts will share tips and tricks on all aspects of hiking, such as trip planning, safety, local resources and places to go. When, where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the REI store in Tustin, 2962 El Camino Real, and 7 p.m. Thursday at the REI store in Huntington Beach, 7777 Edinger Ave. Admission, info: Free.